Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya top the names of the five finalists for Men’s World Athlete of the Year have been announced Tuesday as the countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2022 continues.
Duplantis, winner of the award in 2020 is one of the favourites to win for the second time in two years after improving his world Pole Vault records indoors and outdoors to 6.19m and 6.21m respectively.
This is in addition to emerging world champions indoors and outdoors as well as adding the Diamond League and the European Championships titles.
He will however be challenged by four others led by another former winner, Kipchoge.
The Kenyan, winner of the award in 2019 won two of the biggest marathon races in 2022 viz the Berlin and Tokyo marathons in addition to improving his world marathon record to 2:01:09.
Also in is another African, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, the reigning World and Diamond League 3000m steeplechase champion who went unbeaten in 2022 and ran a world-leading 7:58.28 in Rabat.
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen who shared the European athlete of the year award with Duplantis and USA’s Noah Lyles complete the number of contestants, as it were, for the prestigious award.
The World Athletes of the Year will be announced on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December, as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
